Fiskars Cuts+More scissors
While I was reading through the TSP forums, I came across a post about the Fiskars Cuts+More scissors. These are a new type of scissors meant to use in the garden. Their package proclaims them as the “Ultimate Garden Scissors.” In addition to scissors, there are several useful tools on them and look like they would be handy. I was looking for some kind of product to review here, and these looked like they would be a great tool to review. So I bought a pair to review.
Fiskar scissors gadgets
First impression is that they will indeed be useful. There are several tools that would be convenient to have on hand while working in the garden, the “power notch” (a rope cutter), wire cutters, twine cutter, tape cutter and scissor blades. They also come apart to allow one of the blades to be used as a knife and has an awl for the tip. Then for after the work is finished, there’s a bottle opener to crack open a cold one.
First thing I used was the packing tape cutter. I needed to open a box containing a new hard drive. The tape was a fairly thick plastic tape. The tape cutter failed miserably. It was difficult to get started. When I finally got it into the tape, I was not able to pull it through the rest of the tape. I eventually took the scissors apart and used the knife blade to open the box. To see if this was the fault of the tape or the cutter, I used it to open a computer box. It was still difficult to get it started, the point didn’t want to pierce the tape. But once in, the cutter went through the tape without any trouble.
Bottle opener
The bottle opener worked fine. I used it to open my bottle of Yeungling Light Lager when I was grilling the other night. It could stand to be slightly thinner, but that would weaken the scissor blades. It takes a little coordination, but it works fine in a pinch.
Snipping twigs
On the tip of the silver colored blade is a little bubble that isn’t sharpened. This helps hold any small stems or twigs that need cut. I used these to cut up some mint in order to make some mint syrup. I had no doubt that it would cut this, but that little bubble kept the stem from sliding out from between the blades.
The squirrels are always planting black walnuts in the yard. This leaves me black walnut saplings coming up all over the place. I tried out the “power notch” to cut these little trees. It made quick work of any branches up to almost 1/2″ in diameter. I did have to really bear down on the handles, but they are plenty strong enough to handle the pressure.
Cutting rope
But that’s not the purpose of that notch, it is meant to be used to cut rope. I went down to the basement and grabbed a hank of 1/2″ sisal rope. I put it in that “power notch” and sliced right through the rope. I would be comfortable cutting rope even a little bigger than half inch. It probably won’t handle 1″ rope, but how often is rope that big used in a garden?
Fiskars taken apart
The scissors come apart very easily, just open them very wide and the connection post slides right out of the hole on the black handled blade. This allows the tip of the blade to be used as an awl to punch a hole in something. The blade can even be used as a knife to cut something up, like a chunk of cardboard to put in the rows between the garden beds. The blade isn’t sharp enough to completely replace a knife, but it is useful.
The take apart design of these scissors could also be used as a self defense tool while traveling. The TSA prohibited items list allows scissors with blades of less than 4″ to be carried onto a plane. These aren’t advertised as being TSA compliant, but I measure the blades at just shy of 4″. So they may be allowed to be carried onto a plane. In event of trouble in the air or after landing, the take apart blades of these scissors could be a life saver.
Built in sharpener
When the work is done, the handy sharpener built into the sheath will help keep the blades sharp. Just push the blades through a couple times and it will hone the edge. The offset design ensures that the blade cannot be dulled by putting them into the sharpener incorrectly.
I found only a couple negatives with these scissors, and they are fairly minor. The tape cutter didn’t work well for me. I think that it should have a sharper point. While I did not use the twine cutter, I think that it would be more useful if the sheath didn’t cover it. As it is now, I would have to pull the scissors partly out of the sheath to expose the cutting area. Another annoyance I found was that when cutting paper, I had to make sure that the paper didn’t get into the rope notch or it would tear instead of cut. Finally, when using the scissors, I had the blades lock open because I opened them too far allowing them to start to come apart. This is easily avoided by not opening them so far, but it was annoying.
Overall I’m happy that I bought these. They will be very handy for use in the garden or around the house. I’d recommend them to just about anyone that needs a cutting tool with additional features. With a price between $10 and $15, they are quite a bargain.
